Government hires agency to check quality of mid-day meals

NEW DELHI:  Delhi government will hire an agency to inspect the mid-day meals served in schools to ensure that the meals meet the prescribed standards of quality and nutritional value, according to officials.

Meals are served to address the nutritional needs of children, covering government and government-aided school students of classes I-VIII, as well as pre-primary classes under the PM-POSHAN scheme. During the closure of schools due to the pandemic, the food security allowance was continued through the distribution of dry ration kits.

“The government will hire an agency which will pick random samples from schools as well as the kitchens and godowns. Samples of both the cooked food as well as raw materials will be tested at regular intervals,” a Directorate of Education (DoE) official said.

“The idea is to ensure that only quality meals are served to children in schools and the prescribed nutritional value is not compromised.  According to official data, there are 8.24 lakh beneficiaries in over 1200 state-run schools in the national capital. The government in April had also started a social audit of the distribution of dry rations under mid-day meal scheme.